The Wilmingtonian., 1887-02-05

ciOlster, admirably situated, Of II rrilzwald,
belonging to my uncle, Steron lie, aud
became accustomed there to remain in my
laboratory until the fall Of night. 0Io
vault, the aspect of which is no familiar 10
me, saw win indescribsble astoushmen' !,
uear the zenith, in Cassiope!s, a radiant
star of extraordinary size. Struck with as
tJuishmeut. could hardly believe my eye
sight. To convince myself that there was
uo illusion and to gather the testimony OF
utheI persons, had the work meu come ouI
~ho we're occupied in my laboratory and !
asked them, as well as all passcrs by, il they
lw, like me, the star which has just ap-
raIed. l,aIned ater that in Germa y
me wagoners AID others Of the comm, d
pt, pie had appIised the astrunom, rs OF d
great aspiration in the sky, winch has furn.
shed occasion TO renew the raileries against
,ta'ued men, as IN the case of comets who's
'miug had not bteu fureseeu.'
VITA hs mauusc ipt notes Tychu Brah
cit a diagram showing tie position of the
Annde,tul srar. The NV York Htrald frnm
hiuh tue abnve words Of Tycho Brahe are
.ket says aIso
One d script u III the Nova Stella sat.
"t i, was so bi,ll aut tia it ,urpus,, I,
~ rndm III tie ,i-ht,St planets, al Il
'sht be- sc. n AT noouda,. GI dually this
.lliaury diminished un,il the 18Th Of Ma ch,
1878, when it became extinct. Its color dui-
pg tb,s time cxh bitcd all the phenomena OF
piodiglous flame at first il was of d z
my white, then Of a reddish yellow, aua
lastly of an as1y u meas, in which its llgr
xpired." Other statements aver that t
lid NOT disappear until 1874, but it is to be
emembered that all observation of it vas
Outlined to the human eye, as Galleo's tele-
,eupe was not completed until 1909.
Even at the time Of its discovery, til, re
vas lurking idea in the public mind con-
Getting the appearance OF the Nova Stella
IS Tyche Brahe called it-with that ont
Ahich led the wise men TO Bethlehem. But
hrs opinion the discoverer did not sha,e,
nd for a reason which curiously illustrates
The character Of his mind as well as th,
standard of belief at the time when he lived.
OF he says in the work already mentioned
Nor is one to persuade himself that thi
star is like that one which appeared to th'
wise men iu the East at the birth of ou
Saviour, for that one was net In the heavens
mung the 9th, stars, ut in a lower serial
giun aud near the earth" But this view
If it did not prevail, for whereas at first th,
new star was called the Pilgrim" and tn,
"Wanderer," as the minds of people contu.
ned to turn to more remote and more mys
cal or gin for the wonderful visitor, it be.
same known far and wide as "The Star ui
tsethlehem," and that pame has clung to il
ever since.
Nnw, the reason for attributing a period
3l5 years to the mysterious stranger, il
rut clear for, although TS cho Brahe figured
is place in the heavens, it is not stated tina,
Ie decipheIed and delared the elements of
ITS orbit. But tradition gave assurance u a
uch a star had appeared in The heavens
942 and III 1857, anh it was traced back TO,
nee more supposed appearances, iu 827, 81.
lud 5 8, C, which last dare, and not tht
usually accepted, is brlevtd by modern
chronolOgIsts to have bren the real period 81
he SaviUnr's birth.
But theie was still another tradition, da-
ing back thousands OF years, which bears i
urious analogy to this une-the myth of the
phenix. THIS supposed h rd is said to have
roIne star in ITS head and to have been
tired by some means, burning to ashes, to
revive and put in reapI earauce at each Of
certain periodic times, with regard to v hich
The authorit es differ. 1t is alluded to iu Job
and in the Psalms, and was bell, we'd by the
ancients TO have appeared at the birth OF
Christ, while the monastc writer's alleged
that it was Christ himself. What is certain
IS that the myth is astronomical the Hebrew
word for ph@nix being "choul" which
means cycle OF period.
To return to the Nova Stella of Tychc
Brahe, there are some curious coincidencel
clustering about the date of its discovery
November is Advent, and is also known a,
the "Month of Magi," and the 11th of the
month, the day on which the star was dis
covered, is st. Martins Day, or Martinmas
But the day is also sacred to Baochus, tn,
Iudian Brahms, whose symbol was a swan
as s' Martins is goose, the connection